This past Tuesday, Linda and I returned from a week in Haiti. What an experience! It was my second visit and Linda’s first. We went for the Haitian Annual Conference which was held in the new ministries building at the compound in Borel. We left on January 2 and traveled with Don Dennison who is still recuperating from a recent surgery. I teased Don that it was my charge from his wife, Phyllis, to carry his luggage and make certain he did no heavy lifting. Over the next couple weeks I’d like to share what we saw and experienced, taking excerpts from my journal.

DAY ONE:

We flew out of Detroit and met up with the rest of our party in Miami including Martha and George Yerger from our Plainfield (ERC) congregation, Pastor William Primé from our Haitian-American church in Orlando, and three men from our Indian Head (ARC) church: Stacy Dix, Zach Frederick and Pastor Ed Mikkelsen.

Flying into "Port"

We arrived in Port-au-Prince about 4:30 p.m. (eastern) but some of our luggage did not—one of the perils of travel abroad which we would experience again on the homeward journey. As a consequence, we didn’t leave the airport until after dark. The ride through Port (as the capital city is called) up the coast to St. Marc and then inland up the Artibonite Valley to Borel at night took two hours plus and seemed like a surrealistic journey into a parallel universe. The sights can best be described in pictures, but the sounds and smells can only be understood if you’ve been there. I would encourage everyone who can to go. My first trip five years ago changed my life perspective and deepened my commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This trip reaffirmed that experience. North American Christianity has much to learn from the Haitian Church.

We arrived at the mission compound about 9 p.m. and unloaded our stuff. We stayed in the guest house which originally served as the home for Pastor Jim and Leone Wallace and family when Project H.E.L.P. began in 1967. We were assigned a cook (Marie) who prepared and cleaned up after all our meals while we were there. She did a super job!

Eating a Meal in the Guest House

I must say that I was a little uncomfortable with our separate housing and eating accommodations. It could suggest a class distinction based on the old plantation mentality of which I want no part. “Johnny” Desrosiers, who manages the Borel site, made certain all our other needs were cared for including internet access. We could check email as desired and I even kept up with my eBay account and purchased a couple antiquarian books from Haiti. For as challenged as Haitian society may be (unreliable electric supply, if any, poor roads, lack of sanitation and potable water supply, etc.), it amazed me to see how many people had cell phones. They were everywhere! Five years ago they were the exception, not the rule. We ate a late meal of spaghetti and Haitian sauce, unpacked and gave the guys from Indian Head some clothes and toiletries since their bags stayed in Miami.

DAY TWO:
Today we took time to recover from jet lag as everybody started yesterday rather early. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and took time to read and write. Linda and I walked around the compound and identified quite a nice variety of flora and fauna. The former included mango, banana, almond, coconut palm, hibiscus, clivia and more. The latter included humming birds, doves, woodpeckers, frogs, lizards, ants, spiders and mosquitoes. Linda took a distinct disliking to the blood suckers and diminished their population at every opportunity.

Some of the Local Flora and Fauna

The Borel church building is across the road from the compound and is (I think) the mother church for the conference. The Project H.E.L.P. compound is quite sizable with the front quarter devoted to the Borel primary and secondary school, the middle section dedicated to Project H.E.L.P. and housing units, while the back quarter serves as the location of the metal shop and concrete block factory. The signature building is the new concrete two-story dormitory and conference center constructed in 2005-06 but I found some of the older brick and stone structures much more charming.

The New Ministry Center

People arrived for conference throughout the day, but after 5 p.m. the crowd grew rapidly. The ladies set-up the cooking facilities at the one end of the multipurpose building which consisted of five or six large kettles set over open fires. Praise and worship began about 6:30 p.m. which lasted about 90 minutes interspersed with prayers, Scripture and announcements.

I was the designated preacher for the evening with Brother William Primé serving as my translator. I spoke from John 6 on the feeding of the 5000. I stressed the need for us to be involved in “feeding” the people the “bread of life” through faith and deeper commitment. I affirmed the pastors and churches for the excellent work being accomplished, but challenged them to expand the work. There were 28 churches and 6367 active members in 2006. There are many people in Haiti still hungry for the gospel bread. I asked the conference when there would be 56 churches and 12,000 members? Given the spiritual movement at work in Haiti it seems to me that it could happen in short order. What’s needed to bring about such growth is leadership. I challenged the Haitian Conference to identify and raise up a new generation of pastors and committed leaders to expand the gospel witness and grow the body of Christ. We finished the service just after 9 p.m. and fellowshipped with the people. Bedtime came about 10.

To Be Continued

Ed

NOTE: In our writing there will always be the possibility of errors. I just don’t always remember correctly or have all the facts. I beg your indulgence and ask that you give me a call or email me when a correction is needed.